Nassim Abdi, Ph.D. is an educator and scholar-activist. After completing a degree in journalism at the University of Tehran, she moved to the United States in 2003. A day after her arrival, she started her graduate school journey in Educational Leadership Master’s program at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and then continued with International Education Policy doctoral program at the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park. Upon graduating with a focus on social justice and alternative education, Nassim taught a variety of humanities subjects such as international studies and women’s studies at UMD, Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne, and Worcester State University. While teaching, she helped carry out a survey of 150 faculty, students, and department chairs. The survey confirmed what she had suspected all along – that universities across the United States lacked visual educational materials featuring the views of grassroots activists on important global issues. To address this need, Nassim co-founded Docademia LLC, a social enterprise which takes the messages of activists-documentarians from around the world and uses them as seeds for educational discussions in classrooms.

An impact-driven, Chicago-based startup, Docademia uses independent documentaries to bring social justice discussions to life in classrooms. Please join us at the Persian Circle this Thursday at 5pm to learn more about Nassim’s journey with Docademia and the important work they do in bringing the voices of marginalized communities into American classrooms!